Vanishing Acts
by Kmoney
Summary: What happens when the final battle is lost? What happens to the heroes? Where do they vanish to? Who saves the saviors?
1. The We Didn't Win

disclaimer: Do the Ronin warriors belong to me? I think not, so don't think they do.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The Battle We Didn't Win  
  
Five battered, beaten, exhausted, bleeding young men all clad in ancient samurai style metal armor, each a different color, stood in various places around the forest, which became the battle field, trying to hold their own and losing.  
  
These five young men were the Ronin Warriors; the five young men that stopped Tulpa from trying to take over the earth only two years ago, and then did it again and managed to free the three remaining warlords and Lady Kayura. The five young men that put their lives in the line of fire for the world...were doing it again.  
  
The enemy was over three hundred monsters all alike in some ways, with their purple fish scaly skin, blood red eyes and long claws on each hand; the difference were that some had long tails with a sharp blade at the end and others had spikes at the end of their tails. Some carried clubs, others carried axes, some of them carried some kind of laser guns.  
  
The ones that didn't have any of these features were the ones flying in the sky. They were more bat mixed with dragon. They had the large dragon features, but were covered in fur and had long pointy teeth able to tear a cow in two with a single touch. Their arms may have been weak and frail, but their strong talons made up for the weakness.  
  
Kento's staff flew from his hands by the force of Rowen's arrow, which was thrown off by the enemy. The metal stick flew a few feet away from its owner and then skid a couple of more before it stopped near the edge of the cliff. With a curse, Kento rolled out of the way of a punch delivered by one of the many monsters he was fighting and started a mad dash from the weapon; jumping over trees and dodging blasts of energy sent by the enemy. He was almost there and jumped for the staff when a blast from one the creatures with a gun shot it off into the deep, seemingly endless canyon.  
  
"SHIT!" Kento exclaimed. He punched the ground and looked down into the canyon for any sign of his weapon. "I'm shit out of luck, guys!" He jolted to his feet and kicked one of the spiked tail monsters into the canyon.  
  
Rowen jumped into the air and stayed suspended as he launch a volley of arrows down at the creatures that couldn't reach him. His only mistake was that he had forgot about the flying ones circling in the air and one slammed into his back. He cried out in agony as he hit the ground. He moaned as he slowly pushed himself to his feet trying to wash away the fatigue and pain as he did so. `Get up, Rowen!' He shouted to himself. He had made it to his knees when he lost balanced under the weight of four of the monsters. They has all jumped on him and were getting the best of him in his condition.  
  
Cye countered a blow by a blade tailed creature's ax with his own trident. Blood was running from under his helmet and to make it worst his was hurting like a horrible train accident. He booted the creature into a few of its friends and did a 180 turn just in time to take off the head of another one coming from behind. Once he got the dead body off his trident he hopped back a few times and pulled his trident to his side, giving it a quick twirl as he did. A single water droplet formed in the center blade of the trident and then rapidly started forming into more and more droplets.  
  
"SUPER WAVE SMASSSSSSHER!" He exclaimed. Instantly those few droplets of water became a large tidal wave and it drowned all the creatures in front of Cye. Once he was done though, he dropped to one knee to catch his breath. The battle had been going on for so long and he had done his attack more than once. He was weak, but he knew he had to stay up and keep on fighting. The world was depending on it.  
  
"FLARE UP NOW!" Ryo summoned once again. He launched himself into the sky and fired his attack downward at the monsters below. He noted, just to keep himself from losing hope, that this was the fourth time he had done his sure-kill. He also noted, to also remind himself that the battle way far from over, that the monsters he killed were simply replaced by more.  
  
He landed on the ground and didn't even have to time to pull his swords apart before a spiked tail monster launched at him. He shoved his spear sword into its stomach killing it on the spot and then, kicked it off and pulled his swords apart. He gave his head a shake as his vision became blurred and then jumped right back into battle.  
  
Sage skid till he hit a tree. Good thing, he relief himself, he had a helmet on. His armor was worn and his helmet was cracked from the impact of the tree. He was just waiting for when it all just fell off on the ground and became a piece of scrapped metal. Two of the creatures punched the side of his armor leaving a nice fairly size hole, and another one wouldn't stop stabbing at his thigh till it got through. Needless to say, both spots were bleeding and making life harder for the warrior of Halo.  
  
He jabbed his sword into the ground and used it to stand up. He pulled it out and was getting ready to fight again when a club hit him in the head, again. He turned around and sliced the creature in half. From the impact of that last hit, Sage's helmet cracked completely and fell to the ground in three pieces. "Great," he muttered, slicing two more blade tailed monsters up, "just what I need, no helmet."  
  
To make things worst Kento came flying into Sage and they both rolled off into the canyon. Kento managed to grip the edge and hang on with one hand while he held Sage's hand with his other.  
His armor and body was in the same condition as Sage's. Cracks and scratches covered it. Blood was still coming out of some of the wounds, while others had stopped. His worst wound was right above his liver. If he hadn't been wearing the armor, it would have been his liver.  
  
"Hang on, Sage. I'll try to pull us up."  
  
Sage nodded, then winced when some of his wounds started aching again.  
  
"AHH!" Kento exclaimed as he lost his grip due to a monster slamming their club on his fingers. Both him and Sage fell into dark canyon.  
  
Cye and Ryo both strained against the chains they were entangled in. Both were about to do a double team when the got ambushed by monsters they didn't even know were even here and were tied up. Rowen was being held in the air by one of the bat/dragon creatures and they hadn't seen Sage or Kento for awhile.  
  
"Well...well...well." A sinister voiced echoed. A flash of purplish-black light erupted from a spot near Wildfire and Torrent and they opened their eyes, still restraining the pain to see who it was.  
  
There stood a man standing about six feet seven inches wearing a black dress suit. He had dark, black, wavy hair and midnight blue eyes. He had a pale complexion that went well with his muscular body. If not for the two fangs in his mouth and the black velvet wings wrapped around his body, he would human.  
  
"Maximillion..." Ryo growled.  
  
"Yes, Wildfire, it is I." he replied in a pleasant tone, used to greet friends and not enemies. "How does it feel to lose?"  
  
"We haven't lost yet!" Ryo exclaimed, he and Cye pulled their strength together and broke out of the chains. "Inferno, now!"  
  
"Armor of Torrent! Toa Shin!" Cye called. His armor glowed a bright blue color and it escaped and went at Ryo.  
  
Rowen cracked his eye open just the slightest as he hung, by his shoulders, from the bat creature that held him. His armor had told him that he needed to give his power to Ryo and that's just what he was going to do. "Armor of Strata! Toa Innochi!"  
  
From down in the canyon, Sage and Kento both shifted the slightest before opening their eyes. They too had the feeling from their armors that they needed to power up.  
  
"Armor of Hardrock! Toa Gi!" Kento summoned.  
  
"Armor of Halo! Toa Chi!" Sage followed right after.  
  
Both armors started to glow, Sage's green; Kento's orange and the lights flew from their armors up and out the canyon.  
  
Ryo started to glow red. "Armor of Wildfire! Toa Jin!" The wildfire armor was banished back to where it came from. "ARMOR OF INFERNO! TOA JIN!" The five lights swirl together and changed into a silver color. This light then swirled around Ryo and his red and white sub-armor changed to a gray one. White shin pads snapped on his feet over the armor and the same thing happen to his hands. Once that was done, his whole body was consumed by flames and he erupted out of them clad in the full white inferno armor.  
White Blaze, who appeared to have been missing at the time, showed up and flames consumed his body as well. He was now Black Blaze clad in the white armor and held the Fevor Swords on his back. He jumped over Ryo's head and landed next to his master's side. Ryo pulled the swords out and readied himself.  
  
Ryo started twirling the swords around and in smooth motions. "FEVOR FLARE!" He exclaimed. A attack made of energy and fire the same escape the double blades and with the great power eliminated every single monster on the ground still standing. All but one and that one was Maximillion.  
  
Maximillion clapped from his position now in the air. "Very good, very good indeed."  
Ryo looked up at the enemy in a haze of exhaustion. Not long after the glance the young warrior collapsed. Cye ran over to him, but didn't make. Maximillion released a large powerful ball of energy at the ronin sending him skidding some yards away, unconscious.  
  
"Pack em' up, boys, its time to go." Maximillion ordered the still flying creatures. Four of them obeyed and flew below and gathered the fallen warriors. Maximillion opened a portal and floated inside with the remaining creatures behind him. Instantly the portal closed afterwards.  
  
A/N: Was that just plain weird or am I going somewhere with this story? Truth is, I'm going somewhere and its somewhere I've never been before. (Don DON DON) 


	2. Enter Warlord

A/N: Hi! This isn't a long chapter, but it opens up more of the plot of this story than the first chapter. Ha! That chapter just got the ronins beat up and caught. This answers more questions. *Crosses fingers* I hope people like where I'm going with this.  
  
Deep within a realm of darkness, where trouble lurked around every corner. A realm that once brought evil to the Earth and almost conquered it. Twice! This was the realm of the Dynasty, the Netherlands, where once a evil, dark being by the name of Tulpa had ruled with evil and cruelty.  
  
Now this realm wasn't evil, but it wasn't good either. It stood on the borderline, depending on who you ran into. The new rulers of this realm were previously servants of the evil being Tulpa. Thanks to the help of the Ronin Warriors in the defeat of Tulpa they were set free from his control and set out to live in the best peace they could. They are called the Warlords.  
  
"So...?" Sekhmet muttered after they watched the ronins in their final battle. "That didn't turn out to well for them."  
  
"No," Kayura agreed, shaking her head slowly, "no it didn't turn out well at all."  
  
Dais lowered himself into view from his position on the ceiling, upside down and arms folded over his chest. His exposed eye was filled with both interest at the situation before him, but also deep thought.  
  
"Who thinks they'll be able to pull this off?" Sekhmet asked.  
  
"Shut-up, Sekhmet!" Kayura scowled. "This isn't a laughing matter."  
  
Sekhmet's eyes widen and he pointed to himself with questioning gesture. "Who's laughing?" he questioned. "I'm not laughing." he then cracked his sadistic smirk. "Yet that is."  
  
"You know," Dais said finally, "that if Maximillion gets control of the Earth realm he'll come for our realm next."  
  
"Yes, we are aware of that Dais." Cale spoke. He had snuck up on the other three from one of the darkest corners of the throne room and was dressed in his under armor.  
  
"Why," Sekhmet started, giving Cale a look of both question in what he was wearing and question in what he was planning to do, "are you in your sub-armor?"  
  
"I was under the impression that we were going to kill this son of a bitch and along the way maybe save the ronin boys." Cale sneered in response. "Like Dais said: When Maximillion is done with the Earth realm he'll come and try and get this one."  
  
"That's a promise he made when we clashed in battle with him." Dais noted.  
  
"Why can't we wait for that to happen and kill him here?" Sekhmet asked.  
  
"Why are we wasting our time arguing!?" Kayura snapped. "The ronin warriors set us free, its time we return the favor and do the same." she summoned her sub-armor and then her main armor of Cruelty.  
  
Cale followed her soon after and Dais rose back upward into the dark hidden ceiling and when came back down he was too in his armor. Kayura nodded in satisfaction and then turned to Sekhmet.  
  
"What are you waiting for, Sekhmet? Christmas in July?" She growled.  
  
"Not exactly." Sekhmet replied. He soon summoned his armor and the four warlords vanished from site.  
  
Maximillion clapped like a happy little boy as he marched in front of his five new prisoners.  
  
"Oh, how does it feel to lose?" he spoke jollity.  
  
Ryo, now back in his wildfire armor, pulled at his chain only to receive a shock of electricity filling his body. After screaming in agony, he stopped and started taking deep breaths before he spoke, this time not moving a muscle. "This..isn't...over."  
  
"Oh but it is. You five are K.O.ed and I'll soon have the Earth realm and no one can stop me. How did Tulpa fail where I succeeded?" he waved, in a friendly way, at the ronins and walked out the room. "Don't hang around all day." he laughed at his stupid joke and the doors to the dudgeon slammed shut and locked.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Kento asked.  
  
Cye shook his head cautiously, so not the alarm the trap set for if they made any sudden movements. "I don't know. We have to figure something out."  
  
"We'll have to wait till some of our energy comes back and then escape." Rowen noted. "Till then, let's figure out a way to get out of these chains without getting ourselves killed."  
  
The other four nodded in agreement to the plan and began to discuss what they were going to do.  
  
A/N: So do you like where I'm going with this? Its going to be a WARLORD story. Or mostly a warlord story with a little ronin on the side. 


	3. Battle Arena

Chapter Three: Battle Arena  
  
  
  
A black portal tore a hole in the middle of an open field. Through this portal four figures entered. The first was clad in a brown, wolfish style armor with two black horns sticking out of the chest plate. On his left hand was a metal claw and on his back was a black cape and strapped on his shoulders was a long sword. On his head was a helmet and his face was hidden behind a red facemask, part of his scar under his left eye was slightly visible.  
  
The second figure that followed was dressed in a black armor with a yellow and brown overcoat tossed over it. A long black chain rested in one hand, the other hand held onto the sharp scythe that was connected to the chain. Unlike the first arrival, she did not have a helmet, allowing her long waist length black hair to flow behind her.  
  
The next arrival stopped along side the female wearing a purplish-pink armor with the features of a spider. Strapped to his waist were a pair of nunchucks and a mace, one his back was a six legged scythe, that made the spider features even more evident. He, like the first, was wearing a helmet and his left eye was covered by a black eyepatch.  
  
The last to step through the portal was a man clad in an armor that looked like a cobra. He was armed with six katana blades. Two were strapped to his back and the four hung at his waist. Spike sprouted out of his shoulders. He was too wearing a helmet like the other two males of this group. The portal closed instantly after he stepped out of it.  
  
"Ahh, looks like its not busy here after all." Sekhmet joked as he surveyed the area for any signs of a fight. "Here, I thought we came during the busiest season."  
  
"With that kind of talk Sekhmet," Dais interjected, "You'll jinx us."  
  
Sekhmet squeaked like a little child. "Oh do hope I do."  
  
Kayura groaned as she shook her head at her comrade. "Can we at least get halfway to the castle before you decide to get us killed, Sekhmet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I say no more." came Kayura's reply.  
  
With that out of the way, the four walked in a direction in which they assumed the castle was. They probably made it three steps from where they had stepped into the new dimension before an army of the monsters with spiked and bladed tails charged at them from behind trees and hidden in the grassfield a little ways away. The one's from behind them came out of the water and others landed from the sky from aboard the bat-winged creatures.  
  
"Oh, looks like it was a trap." Dais spoke casually. "How...appealing. Apparently they aren't as stupid as they look."  
  
Cale unsheathed his blade from on his shoulders and glanced at the oncoming enemies. "We'll have to continue our conversation after we're done taking care of the irritant."  
  
"Agreed." Dais and Sekhmet replied.  
  
The four warriors readied themselves for the enemies that all stopped about fifty yards in each direction away from them. They were still surrounded and each of the opposite enemy was armed and ready to attack, but they weren't that was the problem.  
  
"Are they going to wait for us to finish our conversation or is something else about to happen?" Sekhmet questioned.  
  
To answer his question a warrior stepped forward out of the numbers. He, unlike the monsters had human features; shoulder length black hair, and brown eyes dressed in a silk black suit with the design of a ogre on the back, on his left breast was a patch of the dimension's army.  
  
"I am General Zhou Zhenmu, you are to drop your weapons and surrender."  
  
"Why does he have a Chinese name?" Kayura pondered outloud.  
  
"Who cares?" Sekhmet answered. "Do you actually expect us to give up?"  
  
"Very well then." Zhou spoke, "You will simply die then! ATTACK!" He pointed at the warlords and the army charged at them again.  
  
The warlords engaged in battle with the monsters. Sekhmet drew two of his katanas and sliced at the monsters. He laughed maniacally as he ran at one, but instead of just kicking him, he ran up him like a wall and landed on the head of one that was behind him. The stunned monster in front of him recovered just to see Sekhmet's sword decapitate him. Two monsters jumped at Sekhmet; he tossed his swords at the monsters not expecting them to be so fast to dodge.  
  
"Wow, impressive."  
  
With a shrug, he drew two more swords and continued with his battle.  
  
Cale hacked off a head of a blade tailed creature. He then performed a 180 turn just in time to dodge two creatures trying to tackle him to the ground. They stumbled and in their mistake, Cale sliced them both in half with one swing. He jabbed his claws outward puncturing the face of the nearest creature and kicked it off into some of its friends.  
  
"These poor excuse for low class monsters. They underestimated us." Cale growled as he nimbly kicked a creature in half and severed the head of another. Blood squirted out of the spot the head was as the body collapsed to the ground.  
  
Ten monsters all headed for Cale and he used the now headless body to his advantage. He kicked it up in the air and then gave it a hard kick in the direction of the monsters, knocking the ones in front down.  
  
Dais flipped over five monsters. They all followed him with their eyes and some even threw their spears at him. He only fizzled out of existence and reappeared hanging upside down from the tree above two monsters standing around.  
  
"Tsk tsk." He spoke. "You surely aren't doing your jobs." He gripped their heads and banged them so hard together their skulls shattered on impact. He lowed himself to the ground and flipped so to land on his feet.  
  
A gang of monsters instantly spotted him and came for him. He pulled out his nunchucks and the first one to charge jabbed at him with its sword. He sidestepped the blade and wrapped his nunchucks around the blade. He pulled the monster towards him and punched it in the face. He yank free the blade and turned around and flung it at a monster behind him. The blade went straight through its eye and it fell dead to the ground. He stepped on the head of the monster he just got done punching, cracking its skull. A volley of arrows came at him and again he fizzled out leaving the monsters confused once again.  
  
Kayura rolled to the side dodging a volley of arrows. She swung the chain end of her weapon at the bowmen managing to knock some of the bows out of their hands. The ones that did lose their weapons picked up spears and ran at her. She now swung the deadly scythe in her right hand and clashed with them. She used one as a stepping stone to get higher and then the next became her prey. She jumped down and sliced it down the middle from its head to its feet and the two halves fell to the ground. A spike tail came at her head. She wrapped her chain around the tail holding it back and then gave a nice, hard tug removing it from the owner of that tail. The creature in pain didn't even see her chain go through its head.  
  
"I hope these weren't the one the ronins were up against." Kayura spoke to herself. "Otherwise, those boys needs some lessons in fighting." She grunted as the monsters dropped at each of the warlord's feet. "This is pathetic."  
  
She jumped into the air, swinging her chain above her head.  
  
The three other warlords looked up when they saw the blur.  
  
"Looks like Kayura is sick of this 'battle' just as we are." Dais noted.  
  
"QUAKE WITH FEAR!" She tossed her chain downward and it penetrated the surface of the ground. Just as quickly as it entered the ground it burst out, but with about a million buddies to join it. The warlords dodged the attack, as would be expected, but the remaining monsters of the army had no such luck. They all dangled in the air, the chain either killed them on sight, went through some body part or suffocated the monsters to death.  
  
Zhou blinked in surprise, when he opened his eyes again, the chains and the warlords were gone from sight.  
  
"Wha...how...that..that's...IMPOSSIBLE!" He stuttered. Him and his last remaining soldiers that didn't clash into battle jumped on their horses and ran from the battle site.  
  
  
  
Sekhmet removed his helmet letting his wild green hair receive air. "That was a little too easy. Were they testing us?"  
  
"I don't know if that was a battle or a test." Cale replied. He pulled a cloth from inside his right gauntlet and wiped the blood off of his blade and claws. The other warlords were doing the same.  
  
Dais glanced over his shoulder. "Its almost nightfall. We must have arrived later than we assumed. We'll just have to camp here and continue in the morning."  
  
"Okay then we're in agreement. Who volunteers for first shift?" Kayura asked.  
  
"I'll go." Sekhmet volunteered. "I'm still too pumped to sleep."  
  
"I'll take the next shift." Cale quickly added.  
  
"And I'll take the one after you." Kayura followed. "Dais, you're okay with being last?"  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Good. Shifts are two hours long. Goodnight Sekhmet." With that she marched off deeper into the forest. Cale and Dais followed her leaving Sekhmet to his watch. 


	4. Slaying the Dragon

A/N: I really have nothing to say. I don't own ronin warriors, but you should already know that. Oh this is the longest chapter.  
  
  
  
Chapter Four:  
  
Slaying the Dragon  
  
  
  
The dimension that the warlords landed in got quite dark when the sun set over the mountains. Everything took on a eerie look and seem to come alive. Animals lurk around making hissing noise at one another and some even fought over territory. The trees, barely visible, slowly moved with the wind making a scratching noise against each other.  
  
This that many would fear did not Cale did not fear. For he was the warlord of darkness. He lived in the dark, moved in the dark, fought in the dark. He was the dark. He stood clad in his armor on guard.  
  
  
  
Just a few miles west of where the warlords had their camp, three figures lurked. They were not monsters, but instead were humans. Each one was dress in similar material, but each outfit had a different design. The first had shoulder length black hair that was tied back with brown eyes. He stood around six feet three inches and was dressed in a traditional blue Chinese kung fu suit. A metal dragon was embellished onto the suit. The head started at his right breast, it went around the back and down the left pant leg with its tail ending just at his ankle. Swung on his back was a case holding arrows and in his hand was a black bow with the similar metal dragon design implanted around the front of the bow.  
  
The second sitting in the tree above the first was dressed in the kung fu suit as well, but his was black and a horse of pure fire occupied the back. He had short black hair with the same color eyes as his partner. Straped to his back were two double edge swords. The sheath for the swords both had the same horse made of fire.  
  
The last was not near the other two. In fact she was near the river washing her hands. She, like her partners, had black hair, but her's unlike her partners reach her mid-back and tied into a braid. She was wearing a gold Chinese style toga shirt and pants. On the right pants leg was a picture of a tiger made out of water. The same design was on her two fire wheels which were attached to her side.  
  
"So, what exactly are we suppose to be doing, Jin?" asked his companion resting in the tree.  
  
Jin Shumu looked up at his lazy partner, "Will not call me by my last name, Lieao."  
  
"You act like its a bad thing, Shumu." their female companion said, joining them.  
  
"I just don't like it. How would he like it if I called him Ran all the time?"  
  
Lieao shrugged, and presumed to get as comfortable in the spot he sat in as possible. "Nite, Jin, Nite Shirui." He folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes.  
  
"Lazy bastard." Shirui muttered. "Why don't we just go and kill these warlords in their sleep?"  
  
"Sounds like my kind of plan." Lieao agreed, not opening his eyes.  
  
Shumu looked at her trying to see if she had been joking, when he saw no humor in her face, he sighed. "If you were there for that battle, you would reconsider that. They're powerful and shouldn't be taken lightly. If we go barging into their camp and they all are awake, then we'll all probably be dead before we could even kill one of them."  
  
"Damn, Jin, you make it sound like they're Gods or something." Lieao remarked.  
  
"I only said that they are very strong." Shumu replied agitated.  
  
Shirui leaned on the tree Leiao was perched in. "I have an idea. This is will actually give us some progress too. Who likes the sound of progress?"  
  
"Me!" Lieao agreed, raising his hand.  
  
"Great, me too. How about you, Shumu? Do you want to hear the plan that will give us progress and something to report back to General Zhou?"  
  
"Let's hear your plan." he agreed, more giving in than actually agreeing.  
  
Shirui clapped her hands together. "Okay, here's the plan."  
  
Cale absently sharpened his claws on a nearby rock. He suddenly stopped when he heard a noise. Unlike most who would have assumed it was the wind, Cale knew damn well that it wasn't the wind. "Wonder whose lurking about?" Cale silently asked himself.  
  
Kayura popped out of the bushes alerting Cale "Cale, your shift is-"  
  
Cale clapped a hand over her mouth and searched around with his eyes. "Someone's prowling around. Are Sekhmet and Dais still sleep?" Kayura nodded, eyeing him. "Then we have trouble."  
  
Shumu gestured at Kayura and Cale standing just a yard or two in front of them. "Look what we found?" He whispered sarcastically. "We found the girl and one of the guys having a nice quiet time with each other. This is great progress, Shirui. We can now go and report to General Zhou that we saw two of the warlords making out."  
  
"With each other." Lieao added.  
  
"Shut-up."  
  
"Okay, so its not what I expected. I expected them to be sleep and just laying there waiting to be killed." Shirui admitted.  
  
Shumu rolled his eyes. "C'mon, let's go back to the castle."  
  
"Hey, where'd they go?" Lieao asked, scanning the area that was just inhabited by Cale and Kayura.  
  
"Who cares?" Shumu replied. "They probably went back to their camp. Now come on."  
  
The three warriors left the area. About two minutes after their departure, Cale popped up out of the bushes right where they were standing. Kayura then followed him.  
  
"Wow, they're stupid." Kayura noted profusely.  
  
"Go wake up Dais and Sekhmet, they're going to lead us right to their castle." Cale planned. He ran ahead following after the young warriors.  
  
Kayura nodded to herself and turned back towards the camp.  
  
  
  
Cale stalked through the forest right behind his foes. He grinned slightly before returning to his serious expression. He stopped when something felt unusual. 'That can't be good.' he stepped back and pressed his back against a tree as he heard a few voice. None of them familiar to him. 'Camp's back that way.' He noted. 'So why am I hearing voices?' His eyes widen just the slightest and then turned into a glare. "Stupid me. Of course this has to be a trap. If those three knew where our campsite was then so do a lot of other people."  
  
  
  
"Dais, Sekhmet time to get up!" Kayura yelled as she entered the area where they had made camp. She has also entered a battlefield. Someone also had tipped their canister and a fire had started.  
  
Dais popped up right in front of her. "Aren't you a little late with wake up call?" He asked. He turned around and kicked one of the monsters back into some of its friends. "There are too many, where's Cale?"  
  
Kayura suited up into her armor. "He decided to follow some of our enemies to the castle."  
  
"Black Lighting Slash!"  
  
Kayura blinked as she stared at Dais. Behind her several of the monsters were annihilated by the attack. "Or not."  
  
Cale landed into view and looked around. He spotted Sekhmet getting rid of the enemies on the far end of the campsite. He whistled loudly getting everyone's attention. "The forest is covered with them. We can't stand still for too long."  
  
Dais chuckled and looked around. "I'll create the diversion. You lead the way to wherever it is we're going."  
  
"Kayura, dear, there's a fire wheel heading your way." Sekhmet spoke casually.  
  
Kayura jumped out of the way in the nick of time, the weapon instead of decapitating her, only grazed her cheek. "Who threw that!?" she exclaimed, glaring around.  
  
Sekhmet shrugged. "I don't know, but whoever it was just doesn't understand that people need their heads."  
  
"Oh, I completely understand that people need their heads. I just figured she didn't need hers." Shirui replied, coming into view. She pulled her weapon out of the tree it implanted itself in and took its twin off her belt. "Care to tangle with me?" She asked. "Or will you be a wallflower?"  
  
Kayura grinned at the challenge as she powered up her armor. Without a warning Shirui tossed her weapons at Kayura. Kayura deflected one with her scythe and side jumped the second. Both weapons bounced off something and seemingly returned to Shirui's hands.  
  
Several arrows with a silver glow caught the attention of Dais and Cale. In unison they flipped out of the way; Cale went one direction and Dais went the other. Making it to their feet they both turned to the direction the attack came from and saw Shumu standing there with his bow aimed in their direction. Behind him were several other bowmen. Also with their bows pointed in their direction.  
  
Kayura rolled around Shirui's swings and elbowed her opponent in the back. Shirui stumbled foreword from the attack, but caught herself before she fell to the ground. She quickly twirled around, launching one of her firewheels at Kayura. Kayura dodged the attack once again and swung her chain in the direction of Shirui. She in turn used her second firewheel to block the chain and the chain wrapped around her weapon. Kayura tugged at her chain trying to bring back her chain and Shirui along with it.  
  
'She's fast.' Shirui thought, 'Even with all that weight on.'  
  
"Ahh screw this." Kayura uttered. She ran towards Shirui at full speed. Shirui jumped to the side avoiding Kayura's rush. She then tossed her now returned first fire wheel at Kayura, who dodged by running up a tree. Kayura finished this by flipping off the tree behind Shirui and pulling her chain around her throat.  
  
  
  
Sekhmet rolled away out of the way of a barrage of spears. He scanned around trying to locate the owners of the spears, but with no success. He did succeed in locating a very wild Lieao jumping at him with his blades ready. His first swing was at Sekhmet's head and the second was at his mid- section.  
  
Sekhmet only grinned at the younger warrior. "You think you can kill me with those skills. SUFFER!" Sekhmet tighten his grip on the swords he was holding and engaged in battle with Lieao.  
  
Lieao grinned and pulled out his second sword. "Just evening the odds." He explained.  
  
"Understood." Sekhmet replied. "Your still going to die."  
  
"Oh, really. I doubt that very much."  
  
Sekhmet nodded casually at Lieao. "Oh, don't worry, I'll kill you."  
  
  
  
Dais and Cale exchanged glances with each other and then turned back at what they had been watching. The bowmen were all circling around them in what seemed like a dance formation, but not once did they advanced to attack.  
  
"So when do you think they'll attack?" Dais asked.  
  
"I honestly don't know and don't intend to wait here and find out."  
  
He ran at one of the dancing bowmen and jammed his claws into his stomach. To make sure he was dead, Cale twisted the claws from one side, then turned to the other. He looked down at his hand from the pained look the warrior was giving him. He pulled them out when he saw that they blood was dark red, almost black. He was for sure he gotten the liver. He kicked the soon to be dead soldier to the ground and turned to the others. They had all stopped moving when Cale attacked and were staring at him in surprise.  
  
"That wasn't very nice!" Shumu yelled. He was crouched down on a tree branch, watching the action below.  
  
"AHHH!" Another bowmen yelled as Dais grabbed him from behind and broke his neck.  
  
Cale ran at the remaining bowmen. They all backed away in fear and some turned to run, but saw Dais with five other Daises behind him standing there all with their arms folded over their chest and glaring at the bowmen.  
  
"They're going to kill us!" A bowmen hollered.  
  
"They're monsters!" Another yelled.  
  
"We have to escape!"  
  
"FOOLS!" Cale exclaimed, throwing his cape behind him. "There is no escape!"  
  
Dais laughed mockingly at the cowering warriors and both warlords engaged.  
  
Shumu eyes widen in horror as his men were slaughtered like cow at the hands of the two warlords. He glanced around the battlefield with the same expression. He spotted Lieao battling with the last male warlord and Shirui battling with the female. Neither, he noticed, were getting the advantage. "We...we...can't take them like this." He whispered.  
  
Dais tossed a body aside and looked forward at the noise he just heard. Shumu was crouching on the ground and rose ever so slowly. He was not looking at Dais nor Cale, but at the ground and was breathing very heavily. He finally looked up and his eyes were completely white. He started laughing maniacally throwing his head back as he did.  
  
The two warlords exchanged glances for the second time and turned back at the laughing Shumu.  
  
"Why," Dais started, pointing in Shumu's direction, "don't I like this?"  
  
Shumu started glowing a silver glow while his muscles seem to expand. While they expanded his skin changed from human skin to silver scales and his clothes ripped off his body in various places due to his oversized muscles or the scales forming on his body. . His voice grew much deeper as his face changed as well. His nose extended outward along with his mouth. His teeth also changed to much sharper ones. The next thing to happen was a long, thick tail shot out from behind and wings shot out of his shoulder blades. His height was the next thing to increase, his usual six feet three inches was now over ten feet tall and still going. His hair vanished, his eyes widen and his hands and feet had strong claws on them. By time the transformation was complete he was standing at least twenty feet tall and his clothes were completely in shreds on the ground.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Sekhmet hollered, pointing at the transformed Shumu. "Who the hell sent a dragon out here!?"  
  
"I thought, we agreed, Jin!" Lieao shouted from below. "No transforming."  
  
The Shumu Dragon looked down at the ground at Lieao and snorted, "Call me Shumu!" He exclaimed. He stomped down, almost crushing Sekhmet and Lieao. Both jumped out of the way.  
  
When Lieao made it to his feet he looked around till he spotted Shirui. "Hey, Shirui, let's get out of here! Shumu's gone nuts."  
  
She nodded and fled out of the battle area with Lieao not to far behind.  
  
The warlords all gathered together and looked at the large dragon.  
  
"DIE!" Shumu yelled. He opened his mouth and a silver ball of light formed at the center. He released the light in the form of a large beam. It plowed through the trees going towards the warlords.  
  
When the beam reached the ground, the warlords all dived in different directions.  
  
"OKAY!" Kayura exclaimed. "Who the hell pissed him off!?"  
  
Dais observed the area they had been standing in, when he noticed it wasn't on fire. He walked towards it and touched the shining surface. "Metal?"  
  
"What?" Sekhmet asked, overhearing Dais.  
  
"This dragon shot metal at us." Dais explained.  
  
"Oh, he doesn't want to fry us," Sekhmet spoke calmly. "He wants to turn us into his little metal action figures!" he spoke more angrily.  
  
"Time to go bye bye, warlords!" Shumu called down below.  
  
Cale jumped in a tree and then bounced from another one to another. He did this till he reached Shumu's head and that's when he started powering up his attack. "Black Lighting-"  
  
Before Cale could finish his attack, Shumu snapped his head at him and shot a ball of light at him. Cale flew far off into another part of the area ways away from the battle.  
  
Sekhmet jumped at him with his six swords chained together and glowing. "Snake Bite Strike!" The attack his Shumu in the neck and he turned around and grabbed Sekhmet right in mid-air.  
  
"You'll pay for that!" Shumu raged. He squeezed Sekhmet, who cried out in agony as his armor began to crush. Cracks appeared as he did it again and Sekhmet was struggling to get free.  
  
"QUAKE WITH FEAR!"  
  
Chains burst around Shumu and entangled his body. The large dragon grunted and pulled the chain holding his hand, which had a pained Sekhmet, free. He flung Sekhmet off like he had done Cale and started pulling free the chains.  
  
"Kayura, a retreat is the wises plan of action." Dais recommended.  
  
"Did he let go of Sekhmet?" Kayura asked.  
  
"Yes. He also threw Sekhmet."  
  
"Good." Kayura pulled her attack away and followed Dais as he led them away from the raging monster.  
  
"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHERE EVER YOU ARE!" Shumu taunted. He got no answer, but the wind. "NO! HOW COULD YOU GET AWAY!" Frustration took over and Shumu started decreasing in size. His human features started returning as he grabbed his head and cursing at his failed attempt to kill the warlords. When he was a human again he was not cloth and was punching the ground. "I. Almost. Had. Them!" He looked up, glaring at the nothing, but the forest around him. "I'll get you next time and I'll kill you. All of you!" He started laughing deranged after making his promise. 


	5. Escaping

A/N: For all you ronin fans that are reading a warlord story, this chapter is for you. Only ronins and some new people and remember, I don't own the ronin warriors, but all the new characters that are introduce belong to me. So enjoy!  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Escaping  
  
The dungeon was pitch black and almost nothing was visible except for part of a chain reflecting in the moonlight. The person that was attached to this chained grunted and slowly moved it from side to side making a jingling noise. The chained jerked and a snapping noise. There was a flash of sparks and a low scream and then a thud noise.  
  
"Are you okay?" Came a hushed whispered. "Sage? Can you hear me?"  
  
Sage of the Halo lifted his head up off the ground and let a rasped breath out. He shook his head and laid still for a moment trying to regain the power he had lost breaking the chains around his wrist. "Concentrate on removing your main armor. Once you'you've done that, you can at least move around."  
  
He spotted four flashes of lights from different areas of the room. With each flash he spotted the owners face for a brief second then everything went dark again.  
  
"Okay." Cye's voice rang in the room. "Now what?"  
  
"You should be able to move your arms more than you could before, so the quicker you do this the less the shock will be. Jerk the chains as strong, but as light as possible...and when you scream, do it low."  
  
"Alright..." Rowen whispered. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Here...goes...nothing." He pulled at the chains with all his strength and his wrist snapped free. He, like Sage, receive the brief shock and fell to the ground.  
  
There was three more sparks of light and low screams before everyone was free from their chains.  
  
"So now what?" Kento asked. He looked around trying to spot his friends in the darkness, but without success.  
  
"Let's pray that the guard is lazy and sleep." Rowen mumbled. He crept in the direction he saw the faint light of a candled and peeped through the barred door.  
  
The others gathered behind him and waited for his answer.  
  
"Well," He murmur quietly. "The guard isn't lazy and isn't sleep."  
  
"So, whose got a plan?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Well, since he isn't sleep." Sage initiated. "Why don't we just get him to open the door for us?"  
  
If it wasn't dark, Sage would have noticed the expressions the others had at his comment.  
  
  
  
The guard was a big fella, standing at eight feet. He had the ears of an elf and the body structure of a bear without the fur and the paws. He stood just across from the cell confining the ronins staring at it intensely. He folded his arms across his massive chest and huffed as he averted his attention to a small TV resting on a desk in the corner of the room.  
  
His attention was brought back to the cell when he heard various noises and lots of pained screams. 'Are they that stupid to try and pull at those chains?"  
  
Sparks flashed repeatedly from inside the room answered his question.  
  
"Alright Kento!" Several voice chorused happily. "Now, get us down!"  
  
"Oh, I don't think so." The guard grunted as he stomped to the cell. He produced a ring of keys from his pocket and selected one. He jabbed the key into the lock and just before he opened the door, he smashed his balled fist onto a panel next to the door and the lights flashed on. He then pushed the door open and blinked. Ryo and Cye were hanging onto their chains and Kento was standing under Ryo in a position that showed he was just seconds from releasing him.  
  
"What the hell is going on in here!?" He demanded. In his angry stated, he failed to notice that two of the ronins were missing. "What are you three doing!?"  
  
"Ugh...playing twenty questions." Kento answered while giving him a sheepish grin.  
  
"Okay, well, you play your twenty questions from in your chains. Come on get back up there." he ordered. He grabbed Kento forcefully and the bearer of Hardrock struggled against his grip.  
  
"Hey, let go." Kento demanded.  
  
Just behind Kento and the guard, Sage and Rowen came from behind the door. They both crept slowly towards the two and eyed Cye and Ryo as they did this. Sage held his hand out and silently counted backwards from five and him and Rowen jumped on the larger man from behind. Kento slipped from under him and in the process elbowed the guard in the gut.  
  
The guard being much bigger than both Rowen and Sage flung them off into the walls nearby. Ryo and Cye jumped out of their chains and joined in on the fight by wrapping their arms around the guard's neck and When Rowen and Sage came back the guard started really straining against their weight and bent over.  
  
The guard then caught a look at the feet in front of him. They were orange and white. He rolled his eyes up as far as he can and saw they belonged to Kento.  
  
"Your service sucks!" Kento spat and kicked the large man in the face. "I didn't get a decent meal and the beds were uncomfortable." He brought his foot on the man's neck and he flopped to the ground under the other four ronins weight.  
  
"We must be really weak if we couldn't take him down." Cye acknowledged. "We'll have to be really careful not to get spotted."  
  
"Yeah." Ryo agreed, breathless as he with Rowen's help dragged the guard towards the wall.  
  
"Get over here and help." Rowen ordered. "This dude is heavy."  
  
The other three ronins jogged over and they lifted him to the wall and attached the chains around his wrist.  
  
"There, that should hold him." Rowen spoke before he took a deep breath. "Now let's get out of here."  
  
The five warriors turned and ran for the door. Sage was the last to leave and he grabbed the door and slammed it shut and stole the keys as Rowen fiddled with the panel on the side of the door.  
  
Ryo raised his eyebrow at Rowen when he noticed that he was not coming. "What are you doing?"  
  
Rowen let out an exasperate breath and didn't bother turning to his teammate. "I'm seeing what programs this things has and then I'm going to use them to hold big, mean, and ugly in the room long enough so we can at least make halfway to the exit." He explained.  
  
Cye came up behind Rowen and peered over his shoulder. "That's a great plan, Rowen, but can you read that writing?"  
  
Rowen rolled his eyes in Cye's direction and smirked knowingly. "Cye, do you know the difference between a genius and a smart person?"  
  
"No. What's the difference?"  
  
He pulled at a few wires and wrapped them together and the lights in the room shut off and red lines appeared in the room. "A smart person has to learn how it works; a genius already knows how it works."  
  
"Can we go, genius?" Kento asked mockingly.  
  
"Yes, Kento, we can." Rowen replied.  
  
After walking out of their dungeon room they crept down the halls where more cells were holding different creatures of every shape, size, and each had their own distinct features.  
  
"Wow," Sage whistled. "I wonder why all these guys are held prison?"  
  
"Maybe, they define Maximillion." Cye answered.  
  
"Maybe." Sage replied.  
  
"Free us!" Some of the voices spoke.  
  
A hand reached out a touched Ryo on the shoulder. He in turned jumped away from it and stared at the owner of the arm. It was a creature that looked just like the guard they had beat up except he had a bread and was a little bit taller.  
  
"If you're escaping why not take us with you?"  
  
"How about, no." Kento replied with only angry in his tone. "We just took down one of your kind. I'm not up to doing it again."  
  
"You have no right to judge us all by only meeting one. You don't know our story." He scowled.  
  
"Well, then, Mr. Tall and creepy." Rowen interrupted. "What's your story? If you sound convincing, maybe we'll let YOU go."  
  
"Fine, that sounds fair. I am Abeek Satpal. My race of people, Belenus, were some of the first to fall under Maximillion's power. Maximillion comes from the race that lived in the same world as us. His race of people, the Naaki, and our race got along great. We each had different kingdoms and ruled our world fairly. When he took the throne after his mother's death, he devoted every waking hour to gaining complete control of our world. He tried to kill our king countless times, but failed. But one day, his army entered the castle gates, but this time, it just wasn't the Naaki, it was another race of creatures. The ones you fought a lot."  
  
"You mean those ugly bastards with the tails?" Kento asked. A number of pebbles hit Kento upside the head and he turned around to see who had thrown it. It was some of the creatures with the bladed tails huddled in a cell glaring and hissing at him.  
  
"Watch your tongue. The Yarilo come from a different dimension. Maximillion took advantage of our abilities to go to different dimensions and took an army to their dimension and took complete control of their realm. They were some of the few that choose to stand up against him and failed."  
  
"I didn't know." Kento replied defensive. "Geesh, I'm sorry. Did they have to his me?"  
  
"I'd hit you to if you call me ugly." Ryo added.  
  
Abeek cleared his throat and continued. "Once Maximillion killed our king he had complete control. He killed any of the members of our royalty to make things legal. It was written that if one kingdom had no more royal members alive that the other kingdom was given their power. The ones that defined him were murdered in cold blood or as you see place in his prisons. I and a few others were placed in prison."  
  
Several others of Abeek's kind came out of the dark corners. There were about five of them. Three were male, and two were female. The females were only six to seven feet tall as oppose to males being eight to nine feet tall.  
  
He gestured to the much older woman, who had mid-back length brown hair, first. "This is Kalyani, my wife." He moved on to a younger male with wild black hair covering his head. "This is my brother Dabeet." he moved to the next male, one that looked like the oldest of them all and was bald. "This is our leader Tarak Hardeep and Mahati Pargat." He gestured to a young woman with black hair about the same age as his brother. He then gestured to the last person. He was the youngest male and was on about seven and a half feet and looked just like Mahati. "And this is her brother Gagan."  
  
The ronins all gave their greeted in their own way.  
  
"If its not too much to ask." Kalyani started. "Could we have your names?"  
  
"I'm Sage."  
  
"Rowen."  
  
"Kento."  
  
"Ryo."  
  
"I'm Cye." Cye finished. "We're the Ronin Warriors."  
  
"Well it is nice to meet you, Ronin Warriors." Tarak spoke weakly.  
  
"Are you going to set us free?" Gagan asked.  
  
"Hold that thought." Ryo replied. He gestured for the others to follow them and they moved into a little huddle out of hearing distance. "So what do you guys thinks? Should we do it?"  
  
"They seem well enough to me." Cye admitted.  
  
"Cye," Kento responded annoyed. "Everyone seems well enough to you."  
  
"Shut-up, Kento." Cye snapped.  
  
"Hey, hey." Sage jumped in. "Calm down. We don't have time for this. We've already wasted time listening to this guy and his problems, let's not waste anymore."  
  
"I think we should do it." Rowen said getting back to the subject. "They might be able to help us get out of here and even take Maximillion down."  
  
"Or they'll slaughter us like cow." Kento countered.  
  
The five stood there all in thought before they came up with their decisions.  
  
"I say we take the chance. If they try anything we can defend ourselves." Ryo pointed out.  
  
"Okay, so we all agree?" Rowen questioned. He looked at each of his teammates and each gave him a firm nod. He nodded back.  
  
They broke the circle and returned to the cell.  
  
"Okay, we'll free ya." Ryo explained.  
  
Sage held up the ring of keys to show them so. "Just give us a few minutes." He added.  
  
After trying several keys, they finally got the right one and pulled open the cell door.  
  
"Wait." Tarak whispered. "I think only Abeek and Dabeet should go. We shall stay and wait for your return."  
  
"If that's what you wish, leader." Abeek replied. The three chosen exited the cell and they started down the hall.  
  
"What about us?" One of the Yarilo hissed. "Why don't you free us?"  
  
"Because you hit me with rocks." Kento uttered under his breath.  
  
Rowen looked at Abeek with a questioning glance. "Can they be trusted?"  
  
"Yes, they can be trusted." Abeek answered.  
  
"Is there an easy way to figure out which key is which?" Sage asked.  
  
"The keys each have a mark on them that match with the mark on the cell."  
  
Sage looked down at the keys and saw the marks and then looked at the mark above the cell containing the Yarilo. He searched through the keys for that same mark and when he found it he opened the door letting the two Yarilo free.  
  
"Thank you." The one that had asked spoke. He had a spike on his tail. "I am Chula and this is Hansa, my sister." He gestured to the other one, who had a blade on her tail.  
  
"And here all this time, I thought you were all male." Kento muttered.  
  
Cye groaned and slapped his big mouthed friend upside the head. "Stop being rude. Like Abeek, you can't hold the fact that the their race attacked us against them. It wasn't them that attacked us and I want you to remember that."  
  
"Fine. I'll try."  
  
"And for the record," Hansa said. "Females have bladed tails and males had spiked tails." She walked ahead without another word with her brother behind her.  
  
Kento made an annoyed gestured at her, which no one saw. "Oh, I'm so sorry." He replied with only sarcasm. Cye glared at him and he straighten himself. "I really meant that." He lied.  
  
"Shall we go?" Ryo asked. He bowed jokingly and stepped to the side letting the others pass first.  
  
"Free us!" Some of the other creatures begged.  
  
"I'm not freeing anyone else." Sage sworn.  
  
"We'll come back and do that." Ryo added to make Sage's words seem less cruel.  
  
As they marched down the hall Rowen decided to ask some questions. "Hey, are all these guys from different dimensions?"  
  
"Yes." Dabeet answered. "Anyone from a dimension that Maximillion has conquer over the years defined him he imprison them. As you can see, Maximillion has conquer many worlds."  
  
"Yeah and now he wants to add ours to the collection." Rowen noted.  
  
"Which he will not do." Ryo promised confidently.  
  
Abeek opened the door and let everyone walk ahead. "What's your first step?"  
  
"Our first step is retrieving our weapons." Sage explained. "After that, we're open for suggestions."  
  
"We can get you to the weapons room." Chula offered. "If you agree to not kill us." His main focus was on Kento.  
  
"Sure thing." Cye agreed. "We won't touch a body part in a violent matter. Isn't that right, Kento?"  
  
"Yeah, won't kill em. Swear on the power of my armor." Kento answered.  
  
"Then this way." Chula pointed. 


	6. Playing with Sekhmet

A/N: Honestly, I don't know what to say. I guess, well, enjoy. This is for Sekhmet fans.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Playing With Sekhmet  
  
Sekhmet open his eyes, his head swaying lightly from one side to the next as he tried to reclaim his vision. Vision was just one of his many problems. His body was slightly swore, and his head hurt, the list of body parts that hurt could go on forever. Once his vision had returned he notice that it was daybreak and he was laying flat on his back looking at nothing, but trees.  
  
Groggily and painfully, Sekhmet lifted himself up to a sitting position. He grabbed for his head and soon found out that his helmet was not present on it. "Great..." he muttered. "Where is that damn thing?" he searched the area from his position, trying to locate his missing items. "What's the damn point of the helmet if it doesn't stay on your head?"  
  
Getting nowhere and fast made Sekhmet very frustrated and also caused him to force himself to his feet to discover the missing essential to his armor. Just to be on the safe side, Sekhmet decided to do a weapons check as he walked towards the rushing river he had heard. "Everything, but the damn helmet stays attached to me." To his relief when he arrived to the river he saw his helmet beating against a rock and collecting water. He picked it up and shoved it on his head, refreshed by the large amount of water that poured on his head. "Found the helmet, where the hell is everyone else?" He questioned outloud as he turned in a circle looking in all the directions. He quickly notice and to his dismay, that all the directions looked just alike. Making a unsatisfied frown he choose a direction and head in it. "Its not like, with my luck, I'll head in the right direction anyways." He explained to himself.  
  
Two hours later...  
  
Sekhmet's sword was tracing a line in the dirt as it dragged behind him. The line was not to find his way back to where he had came from, but for the pure and simple fact that he was lost and extremely bored. "Even a fly would be more entertaining then all these damn trees." He snarled. "I'm so sick of looking at all these trees."  
  
Something wizzed pass Sekhmet's face. He stopped suddenly and looked at where the item had flown. It was a spear and it had implanted itself within a tree trunk. Sekhmet's eyebrow rose momentarily as he stared at the spear like it was the latest in weapon technology before he turned in the direction the weapon had actually came from. "That's the best thing I've seen in a couple of hours. Who owns it?"  
  
"I DO!" Came a deep, grunting voice from behind a tree.  
  
Sekhmet's serious expression slowly formed into a grin as he waited like a little child getting ice cream for the person to come out. He didn't have to wait long for a man standing at 6'9 with charcoal black skin. He was wearing a black leather vest with leather pants and gloves, and steel toe boots to match. Red and white lines were imprinted on his cheeks.  
  
Sekhmet chuckled excitingly as he drew two of his swords ready for a battle. "Oh, have you come to stop me from?" He asked, managing to keep his excitement to a minimum.  
  
His would-be opponent turned to him and removed his spear from the tree. "I kill all those who are in my way!"  
  
"That'll be me then." Sekhmet answered.  
  
Sekhmet expected the warrior to attack him head front, but instead the warrior held his weapon straight and stared stern at Sekhmet.  
  
"Are we waiting for something?" Sekhmet asked. "Should I attack first? I don't mind at all."  
  
"No. Its not proper from my race of people to fight without knowing your opponents name." He explained. Sekhmet spread his legs out and held up his swords. "Its should be for the best you know the person that is going to kill you. Know this now and let this name torment you while you suffer in the eternal fires of hell. I am Sekhmet, Warlord of Venom."  
  
"I am Nipun." He flipped his spear into a fighting position. "Don't forget my name, let my name repeatedly ring in your head while you smother yourself in defeat."  
  
Sekhmet smiled, showing his canine teeth. "That is, if you defeat me."  
  
Nipun ran at Sekhmet with his spear ready to drive inside the smaller warriors body and rip out his insides. Sekhmet merely jumped over his opponent and used his head as a stepping stone. He landed on the other side and as he turned around to attempt to swipe Nipun in half. Nipun simply blocked the attack in time.  
  
Nipun grinned at Sekhmet and he returned it with one of his own. Nipun tried his luck with grabbing Sekhmet by the arm and slammed him over his shoulder on the ground next to his feet. With Sekhmet on the ground, Nipun rose his spear up in the air and jabbed his down. Sekhmet crossed his blades blocking the spear and kicked Nipun in the mid-section causing him to stumble a few feet back.  
  
Sekhmet flipped to his feet and charged at Nipun. He tried to take out half of Nipun's face with his sword, but didn't succeed. Nipun grabbed his arm and twisted the sword of his hand. 'Hey, this guy is pretty good.' Sekhmet thought. Nipun first gave Sekhmet a punch that he ancestors probably felt then brought his foot up and slammed it into Sekhmet's stomach sending him flying backwards skidding on the ground. Sekhmet rose to his feet and flung his sword at Nipun, who was barely moved his head to the side in time. His face was cut on the cheek during the process. "Gotcha!" Sekhmet yelled.  
  
Nipun stared at Sekhmet with wide eyes. "What do you mean you got me?"  
  
Sekhmet shook his head as he drew two more of his blades. "Figure it out yourself." Sekhmet charged once again at Nipun.  
  
'Doesn't this guy try a different approach?' Nipun questioned.  
  
Sekhmet this time did not attack. Instead, he slid through Nipun's legs and grabbed the larger man by the ankles and pulled force on them causing Nipun to struggle to keep balance. Nipun pulled one of his feet free and stomped on Sekhmet's chest and the warlord winced and rolled out of the way for another one of the vicious stomps. Sekhmet rolled on to his stomach and barely had just gotten to his hands and knees before he felt Nipun's boot in his mid-section again, this time the kick caused him to spit up blood. Nipun kicked again and did it several more times before Sekhmet lashed out by quickly jabbing his sword at Nipun. The attack was so fast that Nipun didn't see it until it had already happen. The sword was now stuck in his thigh.  
  
Nipun stumbled back, holding his leg and pulled the sword free. Sekhmet, with a mouth full of blood, started laughing like a madman.  
  
"Oh, your going to suffer now!" Sekhmet taunted.  
  
Nipun tossed Sekhmet's sword to the side and ran at Sekhmet. He kicked him like a football and Sekhmet rolled near a tree. Nipun took advantage of Sekhmet not rising fast enough and picked him up by his throat.  
  
"You have been defeated!" Nipun exclaimed and flung Sekhmet into a tree. Sekhmet's back slammed against the tree and he slid to the ground. He was down for a moment and didn't he seemed to be conscious. Until he started laughing again.  
  
"I've already won!" Sekhmet sneered in response between his maniac laughter.  
  
"What is he talking about? He only stabbed me." Nipun wondered. He stood there staring at the bleeding and maniac laughing Sekhmet before he notice that his vision was beginning to blur. He shook his head and readied himself. "I will defeat all those who associate with Maximillion!" Nipun yelled.  
  
"Whose associating with that bitch!?" Sekhmet asked from a different spot. He had now had all his swords. He placed each one in the air making a line and they seemed to levitate.  
  
"Wha...!?" Nipun shook his head clearing his vision again. "You're not one of Maximillion's minions."  
  
Sekhmet shook his head as he grabbed the hilt of the last sword. The swords lit up and formed a whip. "No, I'm actually here to kill the asshole."  
  
Nipun back away in fear of what Sekhmet was doing. "Wait...I'm here to defeat Maximillion, maybe we can team up and stop him together."  
  
Sekhmet rolled his eyes in Nipun's direction from his weapons with his famous grin. "You should have thought about that before you attacked me." He waved his sword-whip around in the air as he crackled sadistically. "SNAKE BITE STRIKE!"  
  
Nipun was cut up in various places by the attack and fell to the ground once it had finish with a pink gas rising from his body from the cuts.  
  
Sekhmet aimlessly detached his swords and placed them in their proper spots before turning to walk off.  
  
"N-no."  
  
"What?" Sekhmet questioned. He turned to look at the weaken Nipun standing up. "You're not dead, your a hella of a guy to survive that. Well, now, I know that not only can the ronins withstand my venom, but so can you."  
  
"W...w-we want...th-the s-s-same thing...l-let's." He fell to his knees and took deep breaths. "Let's...wo-work t-to-to..."  
  
"Together?" Sekhmet finished.  
  
"Y-yes."  
  
"But you'll be dead in a few minutes to an hour." Sekhmet brought up. "I'd work with you and all, but you're already dead." With nothing left to say, Sekhmet turned on his heel and walked off.  
  
"I'll...I-I'll be...o-o-okay!" Nipun protested.  
  
"Then tell it to the next person you see!" Sekhmet tossed over his shoulder. "Your just dead weight to me." He spit blood on the ground and continued to walk away.  
  
  
  
Since the battle it had been a few hours and Sekhmet was still marching in the direction he had chose to go in.  
  
"I'm assuming since I have yet to be attack that I'm heading in the wrong direction." Sekhmet noted profusely.  
  
"I'd tell you you're right, but then I'd be lying, now wouldn't I be?"  
  
Sekhmet cocked his eyebrow and turned in the direction of the speaker. A Belenus jumped at him and he quickly spun out of the way and drew his swords as he did so. He stabbed his blade in his attackers neck and kicked him off just in time to parry another of the same specious just shorter with a club. He kicked this one in the stomach and she crashed into one of the tents. Several more jumped at him and he began a one on six battle with the bigger and taller creatures.  
  
"I seem to always fight the tall ones." Sekhmet joked. He did a handstand on the shoulders of the first that ran at him and when his feet landed on the ground his opponents were not on the ground and he flew into his partner that was running in the same direction. He sliced the stomach of the next one to attack and gave another one a permanent footprint in the face. He somersaulted over the next and cut off his head on his way down and using his second blade he sliced another one from his left shoulder to his right hip. With them down, Sekhmet continued on his merry way on to walk right into a camp filled with more than about twenty of them. "Great!"  
  
"Groot El fuego Boule!" A voice shouted.  
  
A large fireball hit part of the army causing them to scream and run around frantic for a way to put them out.  
  
"What," Sekhmet started, staring at the screaming monsters. "the hell was that?"  
  
Another large fireball flew from the same direction taking out another part of the army. Sekhmet looked around for the source of the attack, but did not succeed. Several of the scared and burning to death Belenus ran at him and he sliced at them or shoved them out of his way as he made his way through the campsite.  
  
"I told you I would be okay!" A familiar voice exclaimed.  
  
Sekhmet skid to a stop and blinked. He slowly turned in the direction of the voice with a blank expression. "Don't tell me...?" He didn't even have to finish his sentence, his eyes had finish it for him. There was Nipun just a about twenty feet in front of him, healthy and all, battling the enemy. "How in the hell!?"  
  
"Sekhmet!" Nipun called. "Watch out!"  
  
Sekhmet turned around and roundhouse two of the creatures and then broke their necks with his feet. He rolled out the way of a mad Belenus smashing down at him with a pike and tore his inside out with his sword. He simply tossed his sword behind him taking out one running at him from behind.  
  
Nipun was doing just as well. He cracked the necks of several of the Belenus and killed other with his 'Groot El fuego Boule' attacked and the rest with his spear. He shoved his spear all the way through one of them and then flung the body over his head at several coming at him. He turned around and eliminated them with his attack for good measure.  
  
Sekhmet had formed his swords in his whip once again and was just lashing out at whoever and whatever came at him. As he walked the grass under his feet died out and pink smoke poured out of it and his armor. "SUFFER! All of you! SUFFER!" He spun his whip around him and grinned. "SNAKE...BITE..."  
  
Nipun took this time to hold his hand together and power up his attack. "GROOT....EL FUEGO..."  
  
"STRIKE!"  
  
"BOULE!"  
  
With the two attacks combined, whoever was still standing was either dead or fleeing for life.  
  
"I told you I would be alright." Nipun reminded cockily.  
  
"You may have survived my 'Snake Bite Attack', but keeping talking like that and I'll see how you survive without a heart." Sekhmet threaten.  
  
Nipun cocked his eyebrow at Sekhmet, "You're not very into people, are you?"  
  
"No, you're wrong. I'm not very into people I don't know."  
  
"Oh, well, you know me, you've fought me, and I'm on your side. So what do you say we make a truce? You don't have to like me. Its just I need you and you need me. If were going to get inside that castle and take care of Maximillion that is." Nipun bargained. "So whatda you say?" He held his hand out for Sekhmet to accept.  
  
Sekhmet stared at his hand and walked away. "You can come, I'm not shaking your hand though. I trust no one, and no one trusts me and that's just the way I like it."  
  
"Good enough for me." Nipun accepted, shrugging. He ran ahead to catch up to Sekhmet. "By the way, do you know which way the castle is? I sure in the hell don't."  
  
"Yeah, its in the direction the more enemies come from." Sekhmet simply replied.  
  
"Are you sure we're not heading right into a fort or anything?"  
  
Sekhmet stopped and looked at Nipun. "Do you have any better suggestions? I just picked a direction when I woke up this morning. If you actually know which direction the castle and/or my comrades are in then please direct." Sekhmet step to the side and gave a slight bow.  
  
"No, I was just making sure. Now, I know we'll probably be walking right into a trap." Nipun replied.  
  
Sekhmet stood straight and marched forward. "Not the first time, not the last."  
  
"You're people skills are really going to have to improve."  
  
Sekhmet growled and just choose to ignore Nipun as they walked to either the castle and sudden death or just to sudden death.  
  
A/N: 'Groot El fuego Boule' is a play on words from different languages. Groot is dutch for big, El fuego is spanish for fire and Boule is french for ball. So Nipun's attack is called 'Big Fireball'. I figured I wouldn't just put it in one language considering Nipun is not from Earth. 


	7. Mishaps

Chapter 7: Mishaps  
  
The corridor was paved with marble roman style columns. The walls had designs of many different creatures that seem to pop out. The hallway was dark like the rest of the castle and was relatively quiet except for the clanging sound of metal footsteps scraping against the floor.  
  
These footsteps belong to the ronin warriors who were accompanied by a few more people.  
  
"Hey, ugh, Chalu?" Ryo questioned with concerned as his eyes jolted in every direction.  
  
"Yes." Chalu responded quite annoyed.  
  
"Just how FAR is this weapons room?" Ryo asked.  
  
Chalu shrugged with an annoyed facial expression. "How am I suppose to know how FAR this place is? I just know where it is."  
  
Ryo quieted down and continued to look around.  
  
Kento grinned and cleared his throat. "Hey, Chalu?" he called in a sing- song voice.  
  
"Don't do it Kento." Cye warned. "Don't do it." He saw Kento suck in a lung full of air. "Don't..."  
  
"Are we there yet?" He asked.  
  
Chalu stopped briefly and started muttering in a different language.  
  
"What the hell did he say?" Kento asked.  
  
Hansa giggled and looked at Kento. "He's counting. Its what he does to calm himself down before he does something rash." She grinned when she saw Kento roll eyes. "Like killing you." she added with a smirk.  
  
Kento looked dead at her and showed no fear of her brother. Quite taken back by Kento's lack of fear she broke their gaze and walked on.  
  
"Kento?" Sage spoke calmly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do us all a favor and don't piss off the ones that are helping us."  
  
Kento chuckled but nodded. "Okay, okay, I'll stop."  
  
Twenty odd something minutes later, the ronins stood in a semi-circle starting intently at a closed door. The door itself wasn't all that interesting. It was just wooden with a bunch of funny designs all over it. What was behind the door was why they were staring at it.  
  
"So," Rowen began, "if we go in there there will obviously be guards. Now how do we take them out and get our weapons and helmets back before someone dies."  
  
"Would you be upset if me and my brother gave a distraction?" Abeek questioned  
  
"Why? Are you willing to give a distraction?" Rowen asked.  
  
"Yes." He replied.  
  
"Then be our guest. Go ahead." Ryo cheerfully answered. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "When you're done we'll come inside."  
  
Dabeet nodded and walked up to the door. He picked up his foot and kicked the door with no effort. The door swung off it hinges and broke from the impact. With no warning the two belunus ran inside. Soon after lots of screaming occurred and bodies were seen flying out the room and into the wall on the other side.  
  
Cye flinched. "Wow, that must have hurt."  
  
After about five minutes the screaming demised and the ronins cautiously poked their heads inside.  
  
"Is everything clear?" Sage asked looking around. The unconscious guards answered his question.  
  
Kento ran in with a little cheer. He glanced around and spotted his iron staff hung on the wall. "Finally!" He exclaimed. He picked it up and twirled it around to regain the feel of his weapon.  
  
Rowen picked up his bow. The first thing he noticed was that they had unstrung it and that made him frown. "Stupid bastards." He uttered. He then set about restringing the bow while muttering things to himself.  
  
Hansa ran inside getting everyone's attention.  
  
"We need to go!" she rushed.  
  
"Oh, don't tell me," Sage started, frustration in his tone, "a group of troops are heading this way?"  
  
Hansa blinked at him. In return he stared at her waiting for an answer. During this Chula walked in.  
  
"Look, we need to go before the troops start to wake, the exits pretty far, and I haven't seen it in such a long time that and my memory of its location is pretty fuzzy."  
  
"Well, then let us be off." Abeek said.  
  
Chula once again resumed leading the group down the halls.  
  
  
  
In another part of the castle, Maximillion rubbed his temples with his right hand.. He groaned and his other hand gripped tightly to the cushion on the arm of his throne as he glared down at his general, Zhou.  
  
"So the warlords are here?" Maximillion questioned.  
  
General Zhou nodded. "Yes, sir, they're here. I'm not sure entirely why, but they are here."  
  
The ruler of many dimensions groaned. "The only reason I can find as to why the warlords are here is because they want to take me out before I take them out." he chuckled. "How stupid of them to come to my dimension. I have the advantage here! I know every corner, I control everyone and I'll have their location before they even have it!" He laughed, throwing his head back as he did. "That just makes taking their dimension easier. Kill them now--no wait, offer them the chance to work for me, if they decline, kill them!"  
  
"Yes, sir!" Zhou bowed and turned to walk out.  
  
"Oh, general, one more thing."  
  
Zhou turned his head to look at his master. "Yes, sir?"  
  
"Capture Kayura."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
Maximillion gave Zhou a death glare. "Did I stutter? I said capture Kayura!"  
  
Zhou saluted. "SIR!" he turned on his heel and walked out faster.  
  
Shirui and Lieao sat in the main dining room with many other soldiers. They were all playing cards or doing other such things to pass the time.  
  
"ATTENTION!" shouted a midget with a mouth full of sharp teeth. "Generals Zhou and Seth entering!"  
  
Zhou entered first followed by a man of the Belunus race. He had black long hair tied into a braid and was dressed in black chestplate with tight black leather pants. Strapped to his side was an ax and on the other side was a large battle sword.  
  
The whole hall stood and saluted the two generals.  
  
"At ease!" Seth commanded. Every soldier put their hands to their side, but remained standing.  
  
Zhou exchanged a glance with Seth and then looked back at the troops. "We have some interesting news for you."  
  
Seth grinned, but soon erased it.  
  
"As you may know, the warlords of the Neathe realm have entered our dimension. You may also be quite aware that almost every force we've sent at them has failed and most likely died." Zhou paced back and forth and took a deep breath. "Well, to add to your troubles, you are not allowed to kill Kayura."  
  
The troops groaned and some complained, but were quickly shut-up by their fellow soldiers.  
  
"As for the others," Seth began and smirked, "you may torture to your heart contemns."  
  
"Also the first one to capture Kayura will be handsomely rewarded. Good luck to you all." Zhou walked out of the room with Seth behind him.  
  
Shirui frowned as she sat down. "I really wanted to slice her like an onion too."  
  
Lieao laughed and patted her on the back. "Aw, poor Shirui."  
  
  
  
"The itsy, bitsy spider climbed up the waterfall, down came the rain and washed the spider, up came the sun and-"  
  
Sage glared in Rowen's direction. "Do you have to sing that?"  
  
Rowen looked back confused. "Huh?"  
  
"The song...of all songs you choose that one!"  
  
"Oh, sorry. I'm just bored. You'd think by now someone would have found us out or something, but no."  
  
"Well, gee, thanks Ro!" Ryo snapped, "You've jinx us. Now we're sure to get attacked."  
  
Dabeet looked at the warriors. "I'm sure the only reason we haven't been attacked is because the soldiers are doing something much more important."  
  
Ryo glared in Dabeet's direction. "That made me feel so much better, Dabeet. Thanks a bunch." he replies. His voice filled with sarcasm  
  
"Why you're very welcome Ryo of Wildfire." Dabeet replied not noticing the sarcasm  
  
"Ugh..." Kento started, but stopped himself. "Nevermind forget." He figured there really wasn't any point to explaining the sarcasm Ryo just had towards Dabeet, so he just let it be.  
  
*******  
  
Kayura bounced off of a tree trunk over several enemy troops. She landed behind them and finished them off with deadly swings of her scythe. Several others came running at her, but another popped out of the bushes and stopped them.  
  
"We have urgent news!" yelled the new member. He was a midget wearing purple. He waved his arms around frantically and was out of breath. "New orders! New orders!"  
  
Taking advantaged of the distraction, Kayura dashed off into the underbrush.  
  
"Hurry up!" rushed one of the yarlio that was after her.  
  
"You're not allow to kill Kayura!" the midget explained.  
  
"WHAT!?" exclaimed the five yarlio.  
  
"The one to capture her and bring her to either General Zhou or Seth will be rewarded." the midget handed them a paper and walked off into the bushes.  
  
"So, what do we do?" asked a female yarlio.  
  
"Well, I say we capture her. This paper says for the capture of Kayura we'll get twenty million hun."  
  
Another yarlio whistled from behind. "Looks like that money is ours."  
  
"Okay, so Kayura!" shouted the leader, "Prepare to be capture!"  
  
"She's gone!" the female said and pointed.  
  
The leader turned around and blinked. "Dammit! Find her!"  
  
"Yes, Sir!" the other four replied and ran in different directions.  
  
"Dais!" Kayura called. She waited for a response and growled when she didn't get one. "Where in the nether realm did he go!? Sekhmet and Cale are already missing! I really don't want to look for him too! We're suppose to be rescuing the ronins, not each other. I wish they would just stop thinking about themselves for once." she stomped her foot in frustration. "Dais of Illusion if you don't show yourself in the next three seconds, you'll be exile from the Dynasty forever. One...two..."  
  
"You called, Kayura." Dais answered from behind. 'What could possibly have her so worked up, that she'll threaten to exile me?' he wondered. Another thing he was wondering about was why she was suited in her main armor. "Did you get into a battle?"  
  
"Where did you go!?" she demanded. "I wake up and you're gone. I've been looking for you for who knows how long."  
  
"Please accept my apologies, but I was just cleaning myself up."  
  
"Well, you're forgiven."  
  
Dais bowed at his waist, folding his arm at his mid-section. A grin slowly spread across his face as he looked up at the woman with his eye. "Thank you." Kayura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at Dais sudden actions. She was wondering just what he was up to. Dais chuckled at Kayura's expression and vanished suddenly. Kayura's eyes widen in slight surprise, but changed to a death glare as she stared at the spot 'Dais' was just standing.  
  
"Oh..." She sighed, letting her angry fume, "I'm going kill him."  
  
Kayura sat down on a rock, folded her arms across at her stomach and stared forward.  
  
"Dais thinks I'll chase him around like an fool. Well, he'll just have to understand that I don't chase after people unless I'm going to kill them upon catching up."  
  
*****  
  
"Master!" screeched a creature of Belenus race as he stumbled into the room.  
  
Maximillion, annoyed with being bothered at a time like this, snapped in his direction.  
  
"This better be important!" he growled.  
  
The belenus bowed and once he rose nodded repeatily. "Oh, but it is, master. Urgent news has just come from the prison chambers. It seems the young earth warriors have managed to escape and also have taken the captured Yarlio with them."  
  
Maximillion felt a vain pulse as he the belenus explained everything. Of all the lame dimensions and planets, this one had to be a real nuisance. If it weren't for the resources it could supply him, he'd just move on. Now not only did he have to deal with the warlords wondering around his dimension, but now he had to find those little pest before they got their strength back. Battling the first few times was hard enough.  
  
"Master, what shall we do?" ask a slim creature to his left. The creature's features were cloaked with a robe and a hood concealed his face. The only thing visible were his big, yellow eyes. "I mean surely you can't let them escape. It's hard to even guess as to how they escaped. If we let them get away then the rest will try and we'll have so much havoc in the prisons, we'll all go crazy from it."  
  
Maxmillion grinned. He'd get his high priest to handle the ronins since it seemed to be such a big problem. And why he did that, he'd take care of the warlords. "Simple, you're going after the ronins. I have bigger, how did that sane go again?"  
  
"Bigger fish to fry, my lord." Mylo answered low, his eyes widen with shock and fear.  
  
"Yeah. I have bigger fish to fry." Maxmillion's grin widen. "You CAN handle five little boys and two yarlio, right, Mylo? I mean you are a great and powerful priest."  
  
"O-of course, my lord!" Mylo stammered. "Five boys and two yarlio, its simple child's' play."  
  
"That's wonderful to hear because if you don't catch them, don't come back."  
  
"Pardon me?"  
  
"I said catch them or don't come back." Maximillion repeated. He smiled in a friendly matter and waved at Mylo. "Have fun."  
  
"I will try, my lord." Mylo replied in a whisper, as he walked out of the room.  
  
*******  
  
"This is absolutely ridiculous!" Shirui exclaimed.  
  
Lieao drew his blade and started sharpening it on a rock and nodded, even though Shirui had her back to him.  
  
"I wanted to kill her soooo bad. She was the only worthy opponent I enjoyed fighting in such a long time."  
  
Lieao shrugged, though she didn't see this either.  
  
"Somebody hates me, that's it isn't it!?"  
  
Lieao shrugged again, not caring in the less.  
  
"Why did the lord choose not to kill her! Why!?"  
  
"I don't know!" Lieao exclaimed, throwing his arms in the arms.  
  
Shirui turned around in shock.  
  
"I have no clue. In fact, I don't care anymore. I don't care about the fighting, the fake identities, the weapons, the power, the ronins, or THE WARLORDS! I just don't care! I want to go home, but I can't because I don't have a home! I want to be with my family, but I can't because I don't have a family!"  
  
"Lieao..." whispered Shirui, "how long have you felt that way?"  
  
"Since you went insane with anger. I can't hold it in anymore. I want the nice, sweet kind Shirui I grew up with."  
  
Shirui looked at him with sadness. "It's the whole Shumu disappearing thing. Hey, if you like, let's go look for him instead. Its not like I can do much to Kayura if I find her anyway, right?" she gave him a small smile.  
  
After a moment, he returned the smile and nodded.  
  
Her smile widen and she hugged him and they fell to the ground. "You're sooo cute when you express your emotions!"  
  
"Shirui!" Lieao cried. "C'mon, stop, people might sneak up on us."  
  
Shirui laughed, but let go and the two started to search for their third member.  
  
  
  
*********  
  
The person that Shirui and Lieao just so happen to be looking for was wandering aimlessly around the forest for the past two days in search of the warlords.  
  
"This is ridiculous, I couldn't have thrown them that far."  
  
Shumu heard bushes and jolted his eyes around. Finally they landed in a direction and grinned. "And hear all this time I looked for a thing, when the thing found me. Ironic isn't it?"  
  
The warrior behind the steel red mask grinned. "Yes, it is..."  
  
"Well, enough, chit-chat, shall we?" Shumu asked, drawing the sword on his hip.  
  
"Your move, boy." The warrior replied, drawing his weapon.  
  
Shumu smirked. "Your life, man!"  
  
And he charged.... 


End file.
